Ent office



Maly 10, 1949.y l.. E. SIMMONS CUTTER CHAIN Filed DBG. 28. 1944- Patented May 10, 1949 CUTTER CHAIN Leon E. Simmons, Claremont, N. H., assigner to J oy Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 28, 1944, Serial No. 570,116

4 Claims.

My invention relates to chains. and more particularly to chains adapted to carry cutter bits and to cause such bits to move in cutting relation to coal or other material to be cut.

In cutter chains consisting of solid blocks con nested by strap links each of which has two pivot portions journaled in openings in the solid blocks, there is, when the chain is in use and the strap links are under tension, a tendency for the intermediate portions of the links to buckle or bow towards each other and for the inner ends of the pins on each strap element to tend accordingly to become farther apart than the outer ends, with resultant wear of the bearings and fracture of rivets, or the like extending through the pins. These diculties, I believe, may largely be avoided by maintaining the pin portions of the size necessary to bear the shearing stresses to which they are subjected and by surrounding them with closely iitting-preierably presse or drive-flt-bearing sleeves, and journaling these sleeves in the bores in the solid blocks, and suitably holding the strap links and the sleeves that surround the pin portions of said strap links rigidly together, as by rivets traversing alined openings in the pin portions.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved chain. It is another object of my invention to provide an improved chain possessing flexibility in only one series of planes. It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved cutter chain ier coal cutting machines. It is still another object of my invention to provide an improved chain or the solid block and strap link type which possesses much increased life over the usual chain of this type. Other objects and advantages of my invention will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one form which my invention may assume in practice is shown for purposes of illustration,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a portion oi a cutter chain constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view at right angles to the section of Fig. 2 and taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings there is shown a chain l which is made up of what are commonly called solid blocks 2, and strap links 3. The blocks 2 are socketed as at it to support cutter bits, and cutter bits of the resharpenable type are shown at 5,

and these are held in position by usual set screws 2 The strap links t each comprise side plate portions l and pin portions each of the pin portions being of a length equal to approximately one-half the width of tongue portions E! formed on the blocks 2, The blocks 2 are bored as at IIJ to provide bearings `for receiving cooperating bearing portions. Cooperating with the bearing bores lli are sleeves ll whose peripheral surfaces l2 are journaled in the bores Il! and which have bores lli in them for which the pin portions 8 are press-fits or slight drive ts, so that there is no relative rotation between the pin portions and the sleeve, but instead, as pivotal movement occurs between the strap links and the solid links, the pivot action is between the outer surfaces I2 of the sleeves ll and the surfaces of the bearing' bores ld. Any suitable holding means, as for example rivets le, are adapted to hold the opposed strap links together; and when these rivets have been put in place a pair of strap links 3, having their pin portions 8 non-rotatively mounted in bearing sleeves il, cooperate to form a strap link structure connecting two solid blocks together.

The cross sectional dimension of the pin p0rtions 8 and of the rivets I4 will be determined in such manner as to insure an adequate ability to resist the shearing stresses to which theseparts will be subjected. And the rivets will be made strong enough to withstand the forces tending to shear their heads. The sleeves I0, which may be appropriately heat-treated and ground to provide desirable bearing action within the bores l0, will., as above stated, be non-rotatively associated with the pin portions. When the chain is subjected to tension, as is the case particularly while it is pulling the cutter bits through the coal, the forces tending to flex the side portions of the strap links 3 and to cause the mutually adjacent portions of the pins 8 at one end of a pair of strap links to become increasingly spaced from the mutually adjacent portions of the pins at the opposite ends of the strap links will be restrained by the sleeves ll, and in like manner the tendency to bow the rivets to fracture them near their centers, or to pull them out at one end, will be held in control. The slightly larger bearing Surfaces provided by reason of the presence of the sleeves will reduce bearing loads and improve the operation and the life of the chain. The particular importance of the invention, however, or at least one very maior element of its importance, is believed to reside in the fact that the life of the chain will be greatly increased by virtue of the substantial elimination of the breakages which have their inception in inadequately restrained tendencies of the pin portions to spring relative to each other in conventional constructions.

While there is in this application specically described one form which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be modied and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cutter-bit-carrying cutter chain, a pair of bit-carrying blocks having bores at their adjacent ends having parallel -axes and extending perpendicularly to the planes of orbital movement of the chain of which said blocks form a part, and means for connecting said blocks for orbital motion together including a pair of strap links each having projecting pin portions at its opposite ends of smaller diameter than said bores and extending at least substantially into end abutment within said bores, bearing sleeves tting said bores and having openings tightly receiving said pin portions whereby the pivotal motion between said bit-carrying blocks and said strap links is between the outer peripheries of said bearing sleeves and the circumferential walls of said bores and whereby relative angular movement of said pin portions to bring their axes out of alinement is prevented, and means for holding said strap links together.

2. In a cutter-bit-carrying cutter chain, a pair of bit-carrying blocks having bores at their adjacent ends having parallel axes and extending perpendicularly to the planes of orbital movement of the chain of which they form a part, and means for connecting said blocks for orbital motion together including a pair of strap links each having projecting pin portions at its opposite ends of smaller diameter than said bores and each extending substantially to the mid point of said bores lengthwise of the latter and bearing sleeves tting said bores and having openings tightly receiving said pin portions whereby the pivotal motion between said bit-carrying block and strap links is between the outer peripheries of said bearing sleeves and the circumferential walls of said bores and whereby relative angular movement of said pin portions to bring their aXes out of alinement is prevented, and means for holding said strap links together including holding devices extending axially through said pin portions.

3. In a chain, in a strap link connection for connecting together a plurality of links each having a bore therein whose walls are adapted to constitute a bearing, a pair of strap links each having, when said strap links are in assembled relation with each other and with the links they connect, a pair of pin portions projecting towards corresponding pin portions of the other and of smaller diameter than the bores in the links they are to join together, and bearing sleeves having peripheral walls adapted to be snugly journaled in said bores and having transverse openings tightly fitting said pin portions Whereby there is no relative rotation between the latter and said sleeves, and means extending through said pin portions for holding said pair of strap links rigidly together.

4. In a chain, in a strap link connection for connecting together a plurality of bit-carrying links each having two bores therein whose walls are adapted to constitute bearings, a strap link having pin portions adapted to enter the adjacent bores in a pair of adjacent bit-carrying links but of smaller diameter than said bores, and bearing sleeves of greater length than said pin portions and of such external diameter as to t said bores in the bit-carrying links, said pin portions having at least a slight drive fit in the bores in said bearing sleeves.

LEON E'. SIMMONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 562,364 Appleby June 23, 1896 1,023,549 Buettner et al Apr. 16, 1912 1,130,145 Casteran Mar. 2, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 220,020 Great Britain Aug. 6, 1924 

